October 27, 2006

Chicken with Plums

I have just read Marjane Satrapi's fourth Graphic Novel Chicken with Plums. In this book she tells the story of her great-uncle, Nasser Ali Khan, a musician overtaken by a sense of futility and emptiness over the loss of his tar. Though Nasser Ali Khan tries very hard, he cannot find another tar to replace his broken one. In despair, he takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all its pleasures. Over the course of eight days that follows, his family and close friends attempt to change his mind, but Nasser Ali Khan slips further and further into his own reveries, with unexpected appearance by Sophia Loren. Despite the minimalism of its approach, Chicken with Plums still packs quite a punch.

One thing though, Satrapi's drawing of Sophia Loren's bosoms looks more like two fish to me!